The present application is related to a copending application entitled "Autonomous Radio Timepiece Capable of Automatic Correction Regardless of Time Zone Changes" in the name of the present inventor, filed on or about the date of filing of the instant application.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an autonomous timepiece having a switch for temporarily actuating an associated receiver.
2. The Related Art
A radio timepiece of this type, which gained success in the market very rapidly, is known from the article by W. Ganter "JUNGHANS Radio timepiece RC 2" in Goldschmiede-Zeitung No. 1/1988, page 148. This radio timepiece activates the receiver periodically temporarily, at predetermined points in time, in order to correct the instantaneous time display, if necessary, in keeping with time telegrams received by radio In addition, the receiver is actuated by the insertion of a battery or in operation by the actuation of a sender call key, whereby the instantaneous time display is simultaneously set to the 00:00:00 H reference position and system reset of the processor is actuated. Upon system reset, the time telegram is decoded and the time information is cOnverted into a control signal for the time display As soon as a valid time telegram is received by radio, the receiver is deactivated and the time display is rapidly set to the corresponding position. If the time display is operated by optoelectronic means, the electrical actuation of the corresponding optical segments or sector takes place practically without delay. If, however, it is necessary to move mechanical parts in the process, for example, a clock mechanism for driving the clock hands, or the drive for digital drop disks, the finite time required for this operation is automatically taken into consideration in the resetting operation, so that the actual instantaneous time can be displayed even in the case where mechanical drive mechanisms are used.
However, the resetting of the processor by an operating key upon the actuation of the receiver may be found to be troublesome if it is actuated unintentionally, thereby deleting the contents of the memory present in the processor. In this case, a certain period of time is required until sufficient time telegrams may be received and decoded to determine their plausibility in order to reset the register contents and, from the register contents, resetting the time display to the correct instantaneous time. This is especially annoying if the radio timepiece is located at the edge or outside the receiving range of the time sender. In this case, the undisturbed reception of time telegrams may not be immediately feasible and may be delayed for a few hours, or even through the following night. Until the radio timepiece comes into receiving range, display of accurate time information cannot occur. If the radio timepiece is embodied as a wristwatch, unintentional actuation of the reset key is possible under conditions of normal wear. If the radio timepiece is an alarm clock, i.e., capable of emitting an alarm at a predetermined point in time, it may happen that someone erroneously actuates the processor reset key, while it was actually intended to initiate an alarm repeat program. However, the alarm will be interrupted and the repeat program not be initiated, if the processor and all of its control functions has been reset, albeit mistakenly.